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The Dolphins plans to upgrade their offensive line took a major blow after Pro Bowl center Mike Pouncey was lost indefinitely to hip surgery.

For now, their hopes at center rests with Shelley Smith.

Smith, who signed as a free agent with the Dolphins in the offseason and was expected to start at right guard, was Miami’s first team center to open up training camp today. He said he was told shortly before camp that he will be the center.

Smith said after practice that he’s never started a game at center at any level. He said he was already practicing there in the spring before Pouncey went down. Smith said the team is even prepared in case Pouncey misses the entire season.

“Guys are ready to step up and fill in until he’s back or if he’s not back fill in the whole year,” Smith said. “Whatever needs to happen.”

Second-year lineman Dallas Thomas, who started at left guard during minicamp, was the starter at right guard. Recently signed veteran lineman Daryn Colledge, who played for Dolphins coach Joe Philbin in Green Bay, was the starting left guard.

Miami’s big offseason acquisition Branden Albert is the starting left tackle and first round pick Ja’Wuan James is at right tackle.

The Dolphins will likely experiment with different lineups during camp, but Smith is a solid option at center. Colledge has never missed a start in the NFL.
Only three NFL times since 2000 have had five new starters on the offensive line and the inexperience showed early. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was sacked a league-high 58 times last year, would’ve been sacked several more times today had there been pads. Tannehill said it will take time for the line to jell but that it’s better to lose Pouncey now and have an entire training camp to build chemistry.

General manager Dennis Hickey said this morning that the team was eyeing Colledge since free agency. They signed him after Pouncey had surgery a month ago.

The biggest question mark is Thomas who couldn’t work his way to the lineup as a rookie last season.

Billy Turner, this year’s third round pick, could possibly challenge Thomas for a starting spot. But for now, it’s Thomas’ to lose.

Hickey said he likes the new group.

“We brought in Branden Albert who’s a Pro Bowl left tackle, Shelley Smith, Daryn Colledge who we referred to later,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of younger guys that have stepped up and have had a great offseason. We’re excited about the group and what they’re going to be able to accomplish. Again, with the offensive line, it’s a unit, so their work, they’re interdependent on each other. You’re building that cohesion of that group is what we’re here at training camp to do.”

Tannehill needs the offensive line to give him some breathing room. One noticeable difference in practice: He was rolling out of the pocket more often than a year ago. New offensive coordinator Bill Lazor appears to be playing to Tannehill’s strengths.

Quote of the day:

Mike Wallace on Miami’s low expectations from the national media: “They’re sleeping on us. We’re gonna wake their ass up.”

Owner Stephen Ross talks stadium, more:

Ross met with reporters after practice and gave some updates on the upgrade to Sun Life Stadium.

He said the seats and bowls will be updated between the 2014 and 2015 season and the new roof and scoreboard will be installed between the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

“When we’re done, it’s going to be paramount to a new stadium,” he said.

Other Ross highlights:

– On whether the loss of LeBron James makes the Dolphins the most popular team in South Florida again, Ross said the Heat started getting support when they started winning.

“If we start winning, we’ll have support,” Ross said. “Football is the No. 1 sport in this country and this area.”

– He wouldn’t say whether Philbin needs to make the playoffs to keep his job, but he hinted that the Dolphins will need to improve from last year’s 8-8 record for Philbin to be back.

“I’m expecting Joe Philbin to be here for a long time,” Ross said. “But every year you want to see improvement.”

– Ross said the team was extremely disappointed after not making the playoffs last year and that the organization felt they had the talent to be there. But he said this year’s team is better.

– When asked what area of the team has improved, Ross said the team spent money on the offensive line and drafted a talented receiver in Jarvis Landry. But he said the biggest difference might be new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.

– Ross said the committee that was supposed to look at locker room issues, which already included Dan Marino, Tony Dungy, Jason Taylor and others, has been expanded. He didn’t give any more specifics.

– Ross said the team is trying to get “every advantage we can.” That includes a new analytics department and a focus on nutrition.

Highlights from Hickey’s pre-training press conference:

– After last season’s locker room decable, Hickey wouldn’t say whether the team will allow traditional rookie hazing like haircuts.

“We talked to our players about being good teammates, respecting each other and that’s what we’re about,” he said. “That’s our overarching principles of respecting our teammates and being a good teammate. That’s what we what we emphasized to our players and that’s the kind of guys we have on this team.”

– Hickey said he’s seen a lot of “growth” from quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the offseason.

“That’s what our expectations are for him this offseason – continue to grow in this offense and grow as a player,” he said. “Usually quarterbacks in the third year really take the next step and that’s what we’re expecting. Ryan’s spending a lot of time this offseason working on all aspects of his game. You really saw growth in there. We’re really excited about his 2014 season.”

– When asked what area of the team he is most excited about, Hickey said only “the guys.”

“Whether it be watching them interact when it comes to conditioning, whether you’re watching veteran players take in players under their wing,” he said. “Through the OTAs and the mini camps, you saw the team, the energy, the commitment that these guys are willing to do what it takes to win. That’s what I’m excited about.”

– Hickey said he was disappointed that second-year defensive end Dion Jordan was suspended for four games for failing a PED test but he will become better for it.

“We’re disappointed in that, but Dion’s going to be out there,” he said. “He’s going to be out there competing. He’s going to be out there growing. He’s going to be out there learning through training camp. When the suspension comes, he’s going to serve the suspension.”

– Hickey did not seem to think running back Knowshon Moreno, who is on the preseason PUP list following an offseason knee scope, will be out long.

“We have a lot of competition (at running back) even before we signed Knowshon Moreno,” he said. “We feel like we have a really good group. I know Knowshon’s anxious to get out there and compete. He’s doing a great job of rehab. The surgery went well. He’ll be out there and ready to compete, and we’ll go from there.”

– When asked if the season would be a failure without the playoffs, Hickey didn’t say.

“We’re here to win. That’s our focus,” Hickey said. “The next step in that is our training camp and that’s what we want. We want to put in the time to gel as a team, to find out more about our team, find out more about players and to grow together. Obviously, we have a lot of new additions that have went through our offseason together, with our OTAs and minicamp. Now, it’s another opportunity to continue to grow together through our training camp.”

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The Offensive line is all about synergy and concinnity and that is not gained except by investing time. So by the time the current line will be feeling their synergy it will be broken up again when Pouncey shows up to play. I think Thill has to overcome these particular instabilities as well as getting the long ball accurately and consistently to Wallace in order for he Phins to get anywhere this year. Thill has to seize ownership of the team, become the undisputed leader of the team and force them to win in spite of set backs...that may be asking too much of a quiet esoteric Thill.

Of course the season would be a failure without getting to the playoffs.

Loss of Pouncey hurts. Probably our single best offensive player. But we have a lot of offensive linemen. Either one will step up or we will know that our perception of depth was ill-founded.

I think the two biggest determinants for Tannehill are external to him - getting some time to work from the OL and from the TE and RB actually blocking this year and getting an actual running game going to prevent defenses from teeing off on him every play the way they did last year.

But there are big determinants of Tannehill that are under his control - understanding the offense to the point of automatic response, leading the other players to be in the right place at the right time for the offense to work, throwing the long ball more accurately and more often, speeding up his read of the field and releasing the ball faster. All do-able and I am confident he will do it.

The biggest single improvement was bringing in Lazor as OC - moving from the predictable to the unpredictable. The biggest negative is Philbin who, so far, has failed to be inspiring or innovative or tactically smart or a good teacher or to instill a superior system and has not been in touch with the players - this is his year to up his game, to lead, and show he deserves to be a Head Coach. I hope he succeeds but right now my expectations for him are like my expectations for Thomas and Egnew - I doubt any of them will be here next year.

@recap, I am not Kenobe, the guy you are referring to...I chose kenobe1 to mock him...He is no longer around...Two different people. Read my posts and you will see I post intelligently and without hate...He was a hard right lunatic who pissed off everyone. That's who you mean...

Mike Pouncey and running back Knowshon Moreno will start training camp on the physically unable to perform list.Joe Philbin let go of Reggie Bush last year for a running back combination of Miller and Daniel Thomas that couldn't run well, couldn't block well and couldn't catch the ball well.The Dolphins have had a new offense in four of the past five years.Tannehill couldn't hit Wallace with a pass if he was standing next to him. Etc...

I am a fan but they continue to disappoint. And have a tough schedule. Go Fins but I know what to expect.

It is just fine if you don't like the Dolphins. But, if that is the case, why read articles about the Dolphins? Why comment on an article about the Dolphins? Based upon your comments on regular news articles, you just like to b*&@% and moan. Please go away and be miserable all by yourself.

You are correct that Philbin has made obvious mistakes, failed to put players in positions or plays that used their ability well and has in general shown no inspiration, no innovation, no excellence in tactical adjustments, no teaching excellence - none of the qualities you associate with a first-rate Head Coach. But he is still early to the job and he may up his game.

Lazor is the big upgrade. I think our WR will be excellent, our TE will be much improved. I worry a lot about our RB - having placed great hope on Knowshon and being very sad he will not have the benefit of a pre-season. Miller can make great runs but cannot make holes, and is very inconsistent. Tannehill however will almost certainly be improved from last year by experience alone and the new offense will make him less of a sitting duck. If he reads and throws more quickly, uses his feet more to get out of trouble, and improves on long ball accuracy he will become top 10 next year.

The defense should be improved at least somewhat.

I think we make the playoffs and go 10-6. I would be more certain of that if we had a fully healthy Pouncey, Moreno and Dion in the preseason and playing the whole schedule but I think we go 10-6.

@kenobe1 Ok, yeah, I thought you were the original "kenobe" - my apologies.

As for the 'phins - We had an 8 win (should have been more) season without Bush last year. Knowshon should be back to start the season, Miller couldn't be any worse than last year. The o-line was horrid last season. The injury to Pouncey does hurt, but taking into account the other additions on the o-line, it should be better than last year (if they come together as a group). A better o-line should translate into a better running AND better passing game. The receivers are better, Tannehill and Wallace *should* have better chemistry, the offensive scheme is better (just putting Wallace in motion will help). I disagree with your comment that Tannehill couldn't hit Wallace if he were standing next to him. After all, he did have 930 receiving yards (though only 5 tds) So many reasons to at least have a positive outlook before the season begins, but you have written them off already.

@kenobe1 You are ALWAYS miserable; people are always complaining about your comments. You are uneducated, and your comments are frequently incoherent rants. Using your vast knowledge of football, and of the Dolphins, in particular, please tell us exactly why "They will go nowhere this year..."

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